Teaching Online

This page provides guidance for teaching online. It covers quick-start steps, as well as recommendations for developing good online courses. 

Things to think about when teaching online

Follow these quick actions to make sure you are ready and have the right tools to make the online switch. ​
  1. Check your Blackboard course. Do your students know who you are, how to contact you, who your tutors are, who is the class rep and what key dates are coming up?
  2. Have you set up your staff Zoom account. Do you require a course Zoom account?
  3. Test Zoom - do your microphone and webcam work? 
  4. Do students know the rules you have set around interactions with the class on Zoom? When are the breaks? How can they ask questions?
  5. Get to know VStream to record lectures, or more importantly, create concept videos from home.
Think about how students will engage with the course
  • Work through the Course Preparation Checklist and review against your course. Having your course well structured and available early makes it easier for students to engage.
  • Think about other technology you could use to engage students.
  • ​Think about communication. Do you students know how to engage with the course? Have you told your students how they can contact you during your student contact/office hours?

Course Preparation Checklist

The course preparation checklist outlines the things to consider in order to get your course ready for teaching.

Teaching Technology

The Teaching Online page provides guidance for getting your course online. It covers quick actions that you can take to be prepared.

Designing your course for teaching online

Designing your course for teaching online is different to being prepared to go online if need be, or to moving a course online last-minute when circumstances require. 
Designing a course for teaching online involves thinking about:
  • how teaching materials will be delivered in a way that is engaging and not too time intensive​
  • what type of learning activities will be available to students
  • equitable assessment options and how they align with the course learning objectives
  • how students will work with each other, and with you, to build and maintain a learning community
To get started, work through the Course Design Checklist and think about how you will achieve the steps in an online context.

For specific questions, or help with designing and developing your online course, contact your Faculty Learning Designer.

Course Design Checklist

This checklist will help you work through several things which should be considered for inclusion in all courses to meet the needs of students.

Preparing to Work Remotely

Have you thought through and tested your work from home set up?
Consider:
  • where will you be?
  • what devices, information and connection will you have?
  • what systems are you going to need to access?
  • how are you going to carry out tasks and responsibilities when not on campus or face to face?
Go through the work and teach from home checklist to see if there are things you might need to do to be fully prepared. This can be a useful starting point to understand if you are ready to continue working from home.
Talk to your Head of School/Manager if you identify gaps in your checklist.

Resources for Teaching Online

The following resources are from various different sites and institutions. They may be helpful in thinking about your approach to teaching in the online classroom. 
​Student-Centered Remote Teaching: Lessons Learned from Online Education
Authors: Shannon Riggs Published:  Wednesday, April 15, 2020 Transforming Higher Ed
How to be a better online Teacher - Advice Guide
This guide from the Higher Education Chronicle goes through terminology, practice and principles, how to 'read' the class, and designing the teaching for the situation.
Guidance for running a smoother online/remote teaching session
Canadian Educational Developers have created an amazing website with resources from multiple institutions, learning designers, and educators. If you can't find an answer on our pages have a look at https://keepteaching.ca/
Moving Online Now - How to keep teaching during coronavirus
​(The Chronicle of Higher Education)
Tips, tricks, thoughts and support for colleagues transitioning to an online space​
From the Science in Society Blog. 
Online Teaching @ KIS
The guide below gives advice on key things to try to achieve and avoid in online teaching: